Lamp holder



Oct. 10 1939. c, DE M R 2,175883 F'i1ed Nov. 6, 1956 lT"l\/ent Frank C. D en i rn i:l

Patented Oet. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES LAMP HOLDER Frank C. De Beamer, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 6, 1936, Serial N0. 109,472

13 Claims.

The present lnvention rela.tes to lamp holders and partlcularly to lamp holders for holding lamps of the type wherein the lamp base is provided wlth prongs which fit into sockets in the holder. The invention is especially adapted for use with 1amps of relatively high wattage such as are used in motion picture projectors, air port; llghtlng and the like, although it is not limited thereto necessarily but may be used wherever found applicable.

The prlmary object of my invention 1s to provide an improved construction of lamp holder lnto which I;he lamp prongs a.re easily inserted und fixer! in place, which holds the lamp flrmly and with good electric contact, and wherein the lamp is aceurately positioned relatlvely to the support so that lts filament may be accura.tely

located.

A further object of my invention is to provide a. lamp holder which is relatively simple and rugged In structure. easy to install and use, and capable of being manufactured als low cos For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and, my invention, attention is directed to I:he following specification and the claims appencled thereto.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a. side view ofa lamp holder embodying my invention, a lamp of the prong contact type being shown in the holder;

.Flg. 2 is a side view partly in section of the holder, one prong of a lamp being shown in its socket but not clamped thexein; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the holder looking in the direction indlcated by llne 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a trans- 85 verse sectional view taken on the line 44 of Flg. 2 und Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modificatlon.

Referring to the drawing, I indicates a base of insulatlng material divided centrally at; one side by an upstanding partition wall 2 in line with which are countersunk openings 3 to receive screws or other fastening means for attaching the flat bottom 4 of the base against a support. Mounted on the base on opposite sides of the partition wall 2 are relatively heavy rectangular bars 5 which form combined terminal and socket members. The members 5 are suitably mounted an posts 6 which -are fixed in openings in base I and project vertically above the base 0n opposite sides of partition wall 2. The combined terminal and socket members 5 are provided with tubular rivets 1 which provide openings which fit posts 6, the rivets being suitably fixed in place by having their outer ends upset. The posts 6 are shown in the present instance as being held in the openings in base I by the lower upset ends of the rivets and by a bottom washer I fastened to the lower ends of the posts 6. It will be understood however that any suitable arrangement may be used.

As shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, the bars 5 5 are spaced slightly from the slde surfaces of upstanding wall 2 as is indicated ab 8 and the arrangement is such that eit;her one or both of the bars 5 is sufficiently loose on its post 6 that it may pivot slightly thereon. AI; one end each 10 of the bars 5 is provided with a binding post 9 wlth which I;he electric circuit for I;he lamp may be connected and ab the other end each is provided with an upstanding Wall In in the face of which is a V-shaped notch II which forms one 15 side Wall of a lamp prong socket. The other sicle wall of each lamp prong socket is formed by means of a spring arm I2 which at its lower end extends under bar 5 and is fixed thereto by means of the flange at the lower end of rivet 1, 20 rivet 1 thus movlng to fasten the spring arm to the bar anal electrically connect it thereto. The arm I2 is of spring material and forms a movable soeket wall adaptecl to be moved toward a lamp prong to clalnp it in the socket. The upstanding 235 Wall 2 is loeated between the two bars 5 so es to form an insulating wall or barrier between them.

The spring arms I2-are adapted to be moved inwardly toward the surfaces of the V-shaped notches II by means of cams I3 of insulating material fixed in spgzced relation to each other on a. shaft I4. The active parts of cams I3 are surfaced with metal strips I3 which enga'ge the spring arms I2 to prevent wearing of the insulating material from which the cams are constructed. The cams are fixed to turn with shaft H prefer'ably by employing a rectangular shaft as shown partieularly in Fig. 4, which fits into rectangular openings through the cams, the cams being spaced relatively to each other by means 40 4 of a tubular sleeve I5 surrounding alle shaft between the cams. Shaft I4 is provided at its ends With grooves I6 (Fig. 4) which form circular bearing sections for the shaft and these bearing sections fit into inwardly facing U-shaped slots 5 I'I in arms I8, the arms in turn being supported by resilient brackets I9 the ends of which are riveted against the underside of the base I as is indicated at 20. The resilient brackets I9 are preferably macle from flat spring material and 50 adaptecl to yield outwardly when the carns are turned to move arms I2 toward the surfaces of the V-shaped notches I I so as to be placed under tension. 011 one end of shaft I4'is fixed an operating handle 2I the sarne being held in position 55 by e sei; screw 22 es shown in Fig. 8. When the handle 2I is in down position es shown in Fig. 2, the ective perts 01 cems I3 ere moved from engegexnent; with spring erms I2 permitting the spring erms to move outwerdly. When the handle 2I is moved upwerd to the position shown in Fig. 1, the ective portions of the cems ere brought into engegement with spring arme I2 Iorcing thexn inwerdly es is shown in Fig. 1. 'I'he cems heve fiel; faces which engege the spring erms when in the position shown in Fig. 1 which serves to give e broed engegement between the cems end the spring erms end also to form a. definite stop position in which the cems ere held when the handle is in its upwerd clamping position.

In the drewing, 25 indicetes e lemp heving prong contects 26.

Insteed o! loceting the handle 2I et one end o! the holder es shown in Fies. 1 to 4 it mey be loceted et the middle of the holder es is shown in Flg. 5. In Fig. 5 2 I indicetes e handle mounted on the centrel portion of sheft Il lt being held in speced reletion to the oerns I3 on sheflc W by meens 01 two sleeves I5. Otherwise, the construction shown in Fig. 5 mey be the seme es thet illustreted in Figs. 1 to 4.

'I'he top surfeces 21 of welle I ere loceted e definite end eccurete distence ebove the bottom fece 4 of the bese end serve es e stop with which the shoulders 28 on the leznp prongs engege thus eccuretely positioning the lemp in the socket. With this errengement, the lemp occupies elweys the seme position reletively to the holder so thet, ior exemple, in the cese of e motion pioture projector, with the holder correctly mounted in the projector the lemp mey be loceted elweys so thet its filement is correctly positioned.

T0 mount e lamp in the holder, the handle 2I is moved to the down position shown in Fig. 2, so es to move the ective perts o! the cem I3 ewey from spring errns I2 permitting the erms to move outwerdly ew'ey frorn Walls III. 'I'he lemp is then positioned with its prongs 25 in the sockets end with the shoulders 28 egeinsi: the top surfeces 21 of the welle III. The handle 2I is then moved upwerdly bringing the ective portions o1! the cems into contect with the spring erms I2 thus forcing the erms firmly egeinst the prongs 26 so es to hold the prongs flrmly in position end provide good electrio contect the fiel: surieces of the cems then resting egeinsi: the erms I2 es shown in Fig. 1 end being receined in such position by the spring ection of erms I2. As the cems ere moved the spring arme I2 ere ilrst brought into engegement with prongs 26 efter which Iurther movement of the cems ceuses outwerd movement of breckets I9. Brtckets I9 ere thus pleced under tenslon end nerve to force erms I2 into flrm engegement wit.h the prongs 26. The lemp is thus flrmly counected to the socket both electricelly end mechenicelly. T0 remove the lemp it is merely necessery to move handle 2I back to the Fig. 2 position. 'I'he lemp prongs ere then releesed so thet the lemp is eesily lifted from the socket. 'I'his ls of particuler edventege when removing e lemp which is hot.

By heving one or both oi' the bers mounted so thet it cen pivot slightly, the V-sheped notches cen edjust themselves so es to rneke firm, eccurete engegement with the lemp prongs over a. lerge surfece. This is importent for lemps of this type mey operete with current; velues o1. es

much es 100 emperes. By my invention, I provide e lemp holder which is simple in structure end reedily cepeble of being built for lerge emperege lemps.

Whet I cleim es new end desire so secure by Letters Petent o! the United Stetes, ist

1. In e lemp holder, e bese, speced prong sockets on the bese, eech heving e moveble wall, e sha.ft cem meens mounted on the shefi: for moving seid wells to clemp lemp prongs in the socket, yielding means supporting seid shei't, end meeng for turning seid sheft to move seid cem meens into engegement with seid moveble Wall, the engegement of seid cem meens with seid moveble Wall bieslng seid yielding meens whereby seid moveble weil is held in yielding angegement with the lernp prongs.

2. In e lemp holder. e bese, speced members pivotelly mounted on the bese end provided with end surieces, spring arme, the erms et one end being connected to their respective members end et the other end extencling in freut of seid end surfeces end forming therewith sockets to receive the contect prongs of e lemp, end meens engeging the erms to flex them towerd seid end surfeces to clemp the contect prongs of e lemp in the sockets.

3. In e lemp holder, e bese, speced members mounted on the bese heving notched portions providing end surfeces extending trensversely of seid members, flexible spring erms heving their ends in Iront o1 seid end surfeces end forming therewith sockets to receive the contect prongs o! e lemp, end meens for fiexing seid erms reletive 1:0 seid notched portions to clemp the contect prongs of e lemp in the sockets.

4. In e lemp holder, e bese, speced bars mounted on the bese heving binding terminels et one end end lemp-prong engeging surfeces et the other end extending trensversely of seid bers, flexible spring arme secured to the longitudinal portions of seid bers end heving portions extending parallel to seid trensverse end surfeces end forming therewith lemp-prong receiving sockets, end meens for flexing seid spring arms in e direction exielly o1 seid bers towerd seid suri'eces for clemping lemp prongs in the sockets.

5. In e lemp holder, e bese, speced prong sockets on the bese eech hevlng e moveble well e sheft, yieldeble spring meens on which seid sheft is pivoted, end cum meens mounted on the shett for engeging end moving seid wells to clemp lemp prongs in the sockets the engegement of seid cem meens end moveble m11 blasing seid yielding spring meens whereby seid moveble weil is yieldingly held in engegement with the lemp prongs. l

6. A lemp holder comprising a. bese, speced prong sockets pivotelly mounted on seid bese end edepted to receive the prongs of e lexnp, eech of seid sockets heving e moveble well, meens opereting seid moveble well into engegement with seid prongs to hold the prongs in seid sockets. end yielding meens supporting seid opereting meens upon seid bese.

7. In combinetion, e bese heving e pertition, speced bers pivotelly mounted on seid bese 011 opp0site sides of seid partition, sockets formed on seid bers including yielding strip members fixed 'co e portion of seid bers end coopereting with the ends of seid bars to receive the prongs oi' e lemp, speced cem members coopereting with seid yieldeble members, e sheft supporting seid cem members, yielding meens supporting seid shait: um camoperatlng meems fastened to nid sha t.

8. In a lamp holder, a base, spaced bars mounted on said base, one end of each of said bars being notched, yleldable members Cooperating with saidnotches to form sockets to receive the prongs of a lamp, a shaft, spaced cam means mounted on said shaft and adapted to move said mernbers, and yielding mea.ns supporting said shaft upon said base.

9. In a 1amp holder, a. base, spaced.bars pivotally mounted on said base, said bars having prong receiving sockets at one end and blnding terminals at the other end, each of sa.id sockets comprising a. fixed wa.ll integral with a bar and a movable wall spaced from and parallel to sa1d flxed Wall, cam means moving said movable walls, and yielding spring means supporting said cam means, said cam means having an active portion contacting seid movable Walls anal adapted to hold said movable wall in prong-clamping position under the infiuence of said spring means.

10. In a. SOCkt for use with a. lamp havlng a plurallty of prongs wlth shoulders formed there- 021 the combination 0f a base, spaced bars mountecl 011 said base, one end of each bar having a. stop portion and a. notched portion at; righ1: angles thereto, a. m0vable member cooperating with each notched portlon and forming therewith a. socket *adapted to receive said lamp prongs with said shoulders conta'ctlng said stop porticns, a shaft, yielding mea.ns supporting sald shaft on said base, and rotary cam mea.ns mounted on said shaft and cooperating with said movable members 1:0 move them into prongclamping position, sa.id yleldlng means be1ng moved upon rotation 01 sald cam means to perznit the car ns to be moved to prong-clamping position a.nd thereafter acting to hold the cams auch. positinn.

11. In a lamp holder. a. base, spaced elongated bars plvotally mounted on the base ha.ving blnd- -havlng portions extending parallel 120 said transverse end surfaces and forming therewith lamp prong receiving sockets, and manuaLy cpcrated means for moving sald spring arms in a. -direction axially of said bars toward said surfaces for clamping lamp prongs in the sockets.

12. In combination a base of insulating material having a partition, spaced bars pivotally mounted on said base on opposite sides of sa.id partition, sockets formed on sa.id bars including yielding strip members aflixed to a portion of said bars and cooperating with the ends of said bars to receive the prongs of a. lamp, und manually operatecl means ior movlng said strip members toward the ends of said bars for clamping lamp prongg in the sockets.

13. In a socket for use with a lamp having a. plurallty cf prongs with shoulders formed thereon, the comblnation cf a base, spaced bars pivotally mounted on said base, one end of each bar having a stop portion and a notched portion ab right angles thereto, a. spring arm secured to each of said bars and having a portion extending in front 015 the notched portion 120 form therewith a, socket adapted to receive said lamp prongs with sald shoulders contacting sald stop portions, means engaging sa1d spring arms to flex them into engagement with said la.rnp prongs to clamp the prongs in sald sockets, and manually operable means for operating said first-mentioned means.

FRANK C. DE BEAMER. 

